Part 4 The Werewolves' Magic Institute
By Admiral Albia

In which Sirius gets sorted out and Harry goes HOME!

Disclaimer; I own nothing except the plot and any characters you don't recognize from the books. It's very simple. Jiggy McCue (and the other Musketeers) belong to the great god Michael Lawrence, the rest belongs to the great goddess J.K. Rowling.

My heartfelt gratitude to Caitlin Black. A better beta-reader I could not ask for.

Note to Naddiecc and anyone else who was wondering; Alyssa is James' sister, but she was fourteen when he `died`. A little too young to look after a baby, don't you think? In other words, she never really got considered. And yes, Naddie, it is a coincidence, isn't it? Hmm...

Chapter 4; On The Train
"Are you sure you don't mind, Remus?" James asked for the hundredth time that morning.
"Why should I mind? I'm already taking my two, two of their friends and Neville Longbottom..." Remus jerked his head towards the car.
"Neville... Frank's kid?" Remus nodded. "Don't tell Sirius. Whatever you do, do not tell Sirius."
"I hardly think Sirius is going to bear a grudge just because the boy's father used to bully him."
"Wanna bet?"
"No." Remus sighed. "We'd better go, or we'll be late. Bye, James."
"Bye, Remus, Harry... oh, by the way, Sirius is gonna be in town."
"Really? Oh, good."

/\/\/\
"Well, there you are." Remus helped them load their luggage onto the train, then said, "I'll see you up there," and Disapparated.
"Where's he gone?" Neville asked.
"He has to get up to the school before us," Anna said. "You know, to find beds, wardrobes, perches in the Owlery..."
"... to be prepared for whatever Freda and Georgina do," Mona put in. "Anyone for a game of cards?"
Everyone was except Anna, who went off in search of some other friends.
/\/\/\
"Look! There he is, there! And there's the short one with the bad haircut and the terrified one and the quiet one... and look, there's that bossy girl! Let's go!"
"Not here, Doxy, it's too public. We'll wait..."
/\/\/\
"Hey! Harry!" Harry looked out of the carriage window and waved.
"Ron! Hermione! Need any help?"
"Please," said Ron, as between the three of them they got the trunks on board. "Hi, Neville. Who're this lot?"
"Paul Luphunt, my sister's around somewhere..."
"Indus Halfridge, only child `cos my folks are scared witless of me... oh, shoot, there go my ears again."
"He noticed," Mona said, impressed. "He actually noticed! Mona Weatherby, second-to-youngest of seven, currently winning so can we get on with the game?"
"Of course you're winning, you always win," Indus said in a disgruntled voice. "And once we're done here you'll talk me into playing chess, and you'll win..." Ron laughed. It was at that moment that Harry realised what he found so strange about Mona.
She was Ron's exact double!
/\/\/\
"Checkmate."
"Knew it." Indus leant back and sighed as the train continued its trek to the WMI. "As soon as you said `let's play chess`, I knew you'd win..."
"Suit yourself." Mona began to put the pieces back in order. "Anyone else want to play?"
"Maybe later," Ron said.
"OK." It was at this moment that Anna came bursting back into the carriage, seemingly more out of propulsion than her own free will, since she was unconscious. Paul got to his feet and stormed over to the compartment door, opening it with rather more care than his sister who had simply gone head first through the glass. Mona drew her wand and followed him out, leaving Indus to wake Anna up. Ron started to get up, but Hermione pulled him back down again.
"It's not our quarrel," she whispered in his ear.
"Even if it was Malfoy?" he demanded. Hermione let go.
"You have a point," she murmured, and got up herself.
On the way out of the compartment, however, Ron (who was in front) walked straight into a red-headed girl who looked to be about two years older than them.
"Ow! Watch where you're going, Gary, you twerp!" The girl shoved Ron away from her and blinked. "You're not Gary."
"Looks like Gary from here," a voice behind her said, and an identical red-headed female face appeared over the first girl's shoulder. "Oh, you're right, it isn't. What happened to Anna?"
"No idea," Indus said helpfully. "Probably Murdock. Oh yeah, and welcome back to the land of the living, Fred." The first girl grinned.
"Thanks, Indus. Incidentally, where are Murdock and co.? I want to say hi to Crapol." She reached into her pocket and produced what everyone recognised from sheer experience as one of Dr. Filibuster's Amazing No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks. "With a bang." She apparently noticed at that moment that Ron had gone into some form of shock. "Problem, kid? And what is your name, anyway?"
"Ron Weasley," Ron said dazedly. "Um. What did you say your names were?"
"Fred and George. Well, Freda and Georgina actually, but what kind of names are those?"
Of the three, Hermione spoke first, with the eternal words of wisdom; "This is freaky."
"What's your surname?" Ron asked.
"Weatherby. Where's Mona, by the way?" A loud bang issued from another compartment.
"Follow the screams," Indus said, as they started.
"Let's go," Hermione muttered to Harry and Ron, and they went.
/\/\/\
Paul and Mona were easy enough to find; they had apparently only just reached their destination. Harry looked inside and, as Ron had predicted, there was Malfoy, albeit Malfoy being held at wand-point by Mona and Paul.
"Oh look," he said as Harry slid the compartment door open, "Potty, the Weasel and the Mudblood. Should have known you'd all be hugging the werewolves..."
"What did Anna do to you?" Harry demanded. Malfoy yawned.
"Contaminated the carriage, just as you all are. Well, except Weasley, but we still don't want him in here, do we, boys?" Crabbe and Goyle shook their heads.
"I'm pure-blood," Mona said softly.
"You're a werewolf. You don't count."
"I'm a pedigree, too. Want my certificate?" Malfoy stared at her, then began to sneer.
"A pedigree? What's that supposed to mean?"
"I can trace my family back through twenty generations of witches and wizards and eighteen generations of werewolves."
"She's as pure as you'll get," one of the twins; Harry still hadn't worked out which was which; said from the doorway. "I should know, I'm her sister."
"Let me get this straight," Paul said dangerously, "You knocked my sister unconscious and threw her through three sheets of glass, not because she annoyed you, said or did anything to upset you or to violate your rights as a human being, but simply because she's a werewolf?" His voice grew softer and softer, and by the end it was little more than a growl. Malfoy nodded, completely unfazed.
"That is, in a nutshell, correct. What are you doing?" Everyone stared at Paul as he began to transform, slowly but surely.
"You hurrrt my sisterrr," he growled, speech slurred by the fact that his muzzle was developing, "nobody hurrrts my sisterrrr while I'm arrrrounrrrRRRRRROWRRRRRR!" Malfoy looked at the young wolf apprehensively, then began to smile.
"You can't do anything," he said so everyone could hear. "If you do, you're violating the Werewolf Acts, and I quote, Clause 76; `any werewolf who transforms voluntarily by direct application magic or other means is considered in control of their own actions since, when transformation is undertaken this way, the human mind is maintained. Therefore-"
"Amendment 76A," Mona said, grinning dangerously. "If the werewolf transforms in the aforementioned manner as a result of personal danger or the danger to friends or family, this shall be considered self-defense and shall be stricken from the records. Anyone claiming otherwise shall receive a bite up the backside, and yes those are the exact words of the amendment..." Malfoy gulped.
"And Anna'll vouch for him," Freda (or possibly Georgina) added.
/\/\/\
"Pretty good going," Ron said admiringly once Malfoy had fled and they'd retired the their own compartment. "We normally have to hex at least one of them." Paul, who was slowly changing back into a human, looked at them sharply.
"He's from Hogwarts?" They nodded. "Figures. Most werewolves don't care, surprisingly enough. Any more like him there?"
"A whole house of them," Hermione said, "Plus a few more. Are you all right?" This last question was directed at Anna, who had finally come round.
"Yeah, thanks," she said as Paul helped her to sit up. "Or at least, I will be."
"How did you change back there?" Harry asked; he knew that he would wonder about this for days if he didn't.
"Direct application magic," Paul said. Seeing that Harry was still confused, he explained, "Magic without a wand. The good thing about transforming that way is that you keep your mind, so you only attack who you want to attack. We learn it in first year, `cos sometimes werewolves change involuntarily out of stress or anger."
"I can't do it," Indus said mournfully. "I change involuntarily at the flick of a tail, but voluntarily?" he shook his head. "No chance."
"That's why you're a newchanger, isn't it, Halfridge?" said a scornful voice from the compartment door. Everyone whipped round except Anna, who was already facing that way.
"Oh, look, poor ickle Luphunt's been hurt," the owner of the voice, a short boy with dark brown hair said in one of those voices which is only ever reserved for doting mothers and idiots like him.
"Push off, Murdock," Mona said. The boy sneered.
"What, are you going to make me?"
"Yes, if you don't leave soon. Fred's looking for Crapol, by the way. Something about him killing her?"
Behind Murdock, Hermione pointed her wand at the ceiling and murmured "Argentium." A thin ribbon of silver shot out of it and hit the ceiling before vanishing. Every werewolf in the room jumped. "Sorry," she said, smiling apologetically, "just checking my wand was working after my cat bit it at Christmas. Don't mind me, carry on."
"You are a bunch of newchangers, mongrels and Mudbloods," Murdock said loftily, "I tire of your presence. Good-day." And he walked calmly out of the compartment, shutting the door just moments before Mona and Ron lunged after him, snarling furiously.
"OK, I think I get the mongrel one," Neville said from the window; he hadn't spoken since Ron and Hermione came in but he was still there. "But... newchanger? What does that mean?"
"Changes at new moon," Indus supplied. "It's sort of a very rude way of calling a person weird. Or... well, there are other meanings, but I consider them beneath me."
"Unfortunately Murdock is a pure-blood, a pedigree and a fart," Mona added. "And not necessarily in that order."
"And my father was a werewolf hunter, so can we change the subject please?" Paul asked.
/\/\/
Well, next chapter we get into the WMI! Yay! Many thanks to Caitlin Black, without whom I would... uhm... get my chapters up quicker. BUT they wouldn't be as good =)
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